Slash and burn: The asking price on this South Palo Alto home has dropped from $1.495 million in September to $1.299 million in December.

The listing price on this South Palo Alto home (left), for example, was recently slashed to $1.299 million from $1.395 million, and that was the fourth price reduction from the original asking price of $1.495 million.

But one of the most peculiar price cuts we’ve seen was made on this Menlo Park pad (below): Listed at $844,888 in November, the asking price was recently cut to $844,800 — less than 1 percent. We assumed the cut was made on the guidance of a whack job numerologist, but that wasn’t the case, according to Susan Welch, the office manager in the listing agent’s office, Realty World People to People.

While an $88 discount isn’t likely to make the house much more attractive to potential buyers, it does help keep the listing at the top of the MLS system, since other Realtors are alerted to price cuts on properties.

Will an $88 discount make a difference to potential buyers of this house?

“A lot of Realtors will reduce the price of their listings by $50 to $100 to alert clients to changes and to have property viewed again — to keep it circulating, so to speak. This particular property was listed while renovations were underway. Now that the renovations are finished, the home is ready to view, so we wanted Realtors to be aware that it’s ready to show,” Welch told us by email.